See also definitions of the words
God,
Goddess,
mythology,
religion,
scripture.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe in the same God, but Muslims, and to some degree Jews (see below), visualize God in strictly
monotheistic terms, whereas most Christians believe that God exists as a
Trinity.
Yahweh is the Biblical name for God used by ancient Jews.
Adonai, Eloheynu and Hashem are some of the names of God used in modern day Judaism. The
Hebrew word "elohim" is also used to refer to God in the
Torah (and the
Old Testament), and this refers to a plural nature of God. However, Jews hold to a slightly more monotheistic view of God than Christians. They reject
Jesus Christ as a false
messiah, and do not assign any deity to him.
Historically, Christianity has professed belief in one deity, three divine persons (the
Trinity), that make up one deity or Godhead, known as "God". (See
Athanasian Creed.)
Thus, most Christians are trinitarian monotheists, although there have been dissenters; see the articles
Arianism,
Unitarianism (History),
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and
Jehovah's Witnesses for examples.
Most of these unitarian groups believe or believed that only God the Father is a deity; Latter-day Saints believe that the Father, the Son (
Jesus Christ) and the
Holy Spirit are three distinct deities.
Allah is the most traditional Muslim name for God. Islamic tradition also speaks of
99 Names of God.
Two smaller faiths that don't neatly fit into any of the categories of Abrahamic religions.
Rastafarianism worships Jah and the
Baha'i Faith also worships the same God as Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Egyptian deities often have physical forms that incorporate animal forms. For example, Anubis has the body of a
human, but the head of a
canine.
- Anubis, God of Embalming, Friend of the Dead
- The Aten, the embodiment of the Sun's rays
- Atum, a creator deity
- Bast, Goddess of Cats
- Bes, God-Demon of Protection, Childbirth and Entertainment
- Geb, God of the Earth
- Hapi God of the Nile and Fertility
- Hathor, Goddess of Love and Music
- Heget Goddess of Childbirth
- Horus the falcon-headed god
- Imhotep God of wisdom, medicine and magic
- Isis, Goddess of Magic, sister of Nephthys
- Khepry, the scarab beetle, the embodiment of the dawn
- Khnum, a creator deity
- Maahes
- Ma'at, Goddess of Truth, Balance and Order
- Menhit
- Mont, god of war
- Naunet, the primal waters
- Neith, the great mother goddess
- Nephthys, mother of Anubis
- Nut, goddess of heaven and the sky
- Osiris
- Ptah, a creator deity
- Ra, the sun, possible father of Anubis
- Sekhmnet, goddess of war and battles
- Sobek, Crocodile God
- Set, God of Storms, possible father of Anubis
- Tefnut, goddess of order, justice, time, Heaven and Hell and weather
- Thoth, god of the moon, drawing, writing, geometry, wisdom, medicine, music, astronomy, and magic
See http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/ for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism's extensive information on Egyptian Deities.
Finnish pre-Christian deities
There are very few written documents about old Finnish religions; also the names of deities and practices of worship changed from place to place.
The following is a summary of the most important and most widely worshipped deities.
- Ukko, the principal deity, god of heaven and thunder
- Rauni, Ukko's wife, goddess of fertility
- Tapio, god of forest and wild animals
- Mielikki[?], Tapio's wife
- Pekko[?] (or Peko), god or goddess (the actual gender is obscure) of fields and acriculture
- Ahti[?], god of streams, lakes and sea
- Louhi[?], goddess of the underworld
- Perkele, a god of the ancient Finns or Estonians
See also Demigods[?], the Dryads, the Fates, the Erinyes, the Graces, the Horae, the Muses, the Nymphs, the Pleiades, the Titans
See also kachina
In addition to the gods listed above, there are several minor Gods
spoken of in current western culture and may be taken more or less
seriously. These are commonly called Kitchen
Gods.
Norse pre-Christian Deities
see also Menehune
Roman pre-Christian Deities
Sardinian deities, mainly referred to in the age of
Nuragici people, are partly derived from
Phoenician ones.
see also Kami
See also Annuna